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A growing wave of American breweries is ditching barley entirely — and what they're building in its place is genuinely worth paying attention to. From sorghum ales brewed in the South to chestnut lagers in the Pacific Northwest, gluten-free and alternative grain beers are getting good enough to make even die-hard traditionalists take a second look.
Most beer drinkers know about malt, hops, and yeast. But the ingredient that might matter most doesn't even get listed on the label. Water — specifically, what's dissolved in it — has been quietly determining the character of regional American beers for over a century, and today's craft brewers are paying closer attention to H₂O than ever before.
Before any of your favorite craft releases hit a tap handle, there's a decent chance some version of that idea was already fermenting in somebody's basement. We went inside the homebrewing world to find out why the most adventurous beer in America is still being made in five-gallon buckets.
Not every great American brewery is sitting on a Pinterest-perfect main street with a 4.8-star Yelp rating. Some of the most memorable pints you'll ever drink are waiting at the end of a winding two-lane road in a town you've never heard of. Here are seven brewery destinations worth blowing your GPS for.